back to thanksgiving

Our gracious hosts provided us, not only with an extraordinary meal, but also a venue for a little klezmer. Our fellow diners were appreciative and interested and seem to really enjoy our tunes. For this we give thanks. Thanks everyone!

Jess and Gabe boogie down to Tarras Sher!

Post-Thanksgiving Session

Friday afternoon, bellies still full from Thanksgiving festivities, members of the PKO gathered at the Fisk Street studio. Musicians traveled far and wide for this event including a special guest appearance by Yaniv who brought his hot guitar licks all the way from The Hague. Others in attendance: Bonnie (violin), Alan (violin), Mirko (guitar), Bernard (coronet & percussion), Elena (accordion). Here's a sample of the tunes.

(The music is posted via a video since one can't post audio to these blogs. The visuals are simply there to permit us to hear the audio.)

ReRolling the Year

Simchat Torah was a joyous occasion at the Woodstock Jewish Congregation. It was the highlight of the week for two of the PKO's principle members as they were "invited" to sit in on a few numbers with the two-time WJC Hakafot Klezmer band (led by Craig Judelman, violin, with Jim on drums and Vince on bass). Rabbi Jonathan led the service with his usual stellar skills including some very exuberant dancing. The Torah readers would knock your socks off if you could hear them and they weren't all alte kackers! From the taking out of the Torahs, through the seven dances, the sharing our prayers, the unrolling one of scrolls -- completely (all the way around the room!), the blessings for each other, to returning the Torahs to the ark . . . what a memorable and special night. Oh, did I mention the root beer floats!



left: one of the seven hakafot, center: Rabbi Jonathan and the congregation, right: the band.

Check out the action --- live:

PKO performs for record breaking crowd at Sukkot Celebration

Good food. Good friends. Good weather. These were the headliners for the Sukkot celebration at 24 Fisk. And if that weren't enough the PKO regaled the crowd with some lively tunes. Joel Kaplan, dumbek; Alan Dubrow, violin; Bernard Greenwald, coronet; Elena Erber, accordion; Jerome Taub (not picuted) snare drum. What fun...

Joel performed the blessing with the lulav and etrog:

holiday fever

Hoping that we have been inscribed in the book of life for another year, the PKO is busy with plans for two upcoming celebrations.

The days of Sukkot will be celebrated in full force on Oct 19 with an afternoon gathering featuring pot-luck music and food. The frame of the sukkah is up (who said an accordion player can't handle an electric drill?) and ready for the next stages of dressing. Check out the photo.

Shortly after, on Oct 21, we'll follow some stellar klezmorim to the shul for Simchat Torah. If we are really lucky we'll sit in on a few numbers.

moving on up

One more change this summer: I've added a new accordion to my accordion family. I love my little blue 78-bass Giulietti but I was feeling the need to stand up to the big guys and not just the other accordions but to the big sound of the PKO brass section. After a thorough search I found my new buddy, a Federfisa, Marca d'oro, Americana. SHe has the full 128 bass buttons and 3 reeds for right variations. She's powerful and interesting and fun to play. Listen for her on future postings. --Elena, first accordion, PKO

String Section of the PKO

Since our return to the states the staff has taken advantage of an all too rare respite from touring and performing to develop more fully the PKO String Section, led by first chair guitar and guitar banjoist Bernard Greenwald assisted by sometime Klezmer great Matt (Maxie) Finck.

(This video features an audio clip from one of their sessions. Sorry, only photos of Bernard. Maxie, we gotta get you on film! --PKO blog editor)

finally -- PKO t-shirts

In between practice, jams and performances we have found time to finalize the PKO's logo design. With that momentous act of consensus comes our first t-shirts.

You may also have noticed that our new logo graces the top of this blog page.

OK, enough about the logo, back to making music.

summer o'klezmer

On tour, in performance and developing new material, the band has been remiss in making blog entries due to turnover in the PR staff.

Early in the summer we gathered at the Fisk Street Studio and played with our favorite singing percussionist from Putnam County , Riva Danzig and founding member, Woodstock's own, Alan Dubrow. This was in prep for doing a few numbers at Alan's housewarming, which we did a few weeks later.

In July Bernard and Elena began a course of study in ear training with the extraordinary clarinetist Conor Brown. Our experience with him was invaluable and provided an excellent foundation for our week at KlezKandada (more on that later).

OK, it is later. KLEZKANADA. It was great. Music, music and more music. We met klezmorim from all over Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany. We freely shared krechts, kvetches, grupettos, and trills punctuated with talking about music, making new friends to talk about music with, walking to play music, walking from playing music to have dinner where we talked more about music and about Yiddishkite and culture and music! The PKO was appreciative of a public masters' class critique from three other accomplished Klezmorim and attended workshops with the wonderful Ukrainian brass band, Konsonans Retro. BG performed an original avant garde cornet composition in the woods with Frank London's experimental class. Elena squeezed out numerous tunes in Josh Horowitz' accordion class and worked up to her first on-the-big-stage performance with the beginner's ensemble under the direction of virtuoso violinist Liz Johnson. Elena also collaborated with fellow accordionist, the charismatic Shana Greenstein, who has since launched her own group in ANn Arbor, the Klezmer Garage Band. We learned a lot. On the way back to New York we dropped the Oregon accordionist Martin Morgenbesser at his mom's place in the Adirondacks, talking shop during the drive when he could remain awake in the back seat of the Prius.
(photo: Josh Horowitz's accordion class with special visitor Pete Sokolow)

Late in the summer we had another great session with the fine violinist Craig Judelman. And by summer's end Elena began studies with Andriy Milavsky.

PKO in Canada

PKO in Canada: Responding to a rumor that secreted in the hermetic Satmar community of Montreal, Reb Philip Raphals, the legendary klezmer cellist, was still making the Hasids' payiss stand on end with his  haimish  schpieling asava  a groiseh , shainem fagel, our intrepid scouts were able to penetrate this tight  world of  caftans , shtriemls and tstsiss to seek him out.  We are proud to announce that Reb Phillip has agreed to appear with The PKO for several exclusive cameo appearances as guest star, North of the border. Stay tuned, Kinderlach

PKO Update: May performance and June auditions

At the end of May, the PKO played an important and much anticipated  gig at the 90th birthday party of Mintzie Kaminsky in the Bronx New York. It is well known that the Bronx is a hotbed of contemporary klezmer activity and the local bands were anxious to measure themselves  against acknowledged masters. The PKO all star line -up was enhanced by the rat-tat-tat  percussion magic of Riva Kaminsky on dumbek, and all present, though addled by generous servings  of  a rich chocolate cake, agreed that they swung fiercely.

PKO Personnel and Artistic Director, Professor Bernard Greenwald, and the lovely Orkester concert master, first accordionist, and creative director Elena, are always scouring the country (and internationally) for talented sidemen and woman to add to the Orkester. If there is a talented player out there they want to know why he or she is not playing for them.

 

That is why in mid June they hosted at Freilach Plaza in Red Hook NY, open auditions. A founding member of the PKO, Rozin Dubrow, the fiddle wizard joined them. They were accompanied that week by the paradisal paradiddles of Riva K on the skins.

the babka sessions

In March we celebrated of our lead horn player's birthday with a gathering of friends, a plethora of Babkas from Cohen's Bakery in Ellenville and some great music.

Welcome.

photo: founding members and co-directors jam at first session in March 2008

Follow the music, fun, and antics of the Pamelekh (that's slow) Klezmer Orkester.